As a marooned robot explorer on a distant planet, you
must engage with the local aliens in order to repair your internal
systems and send a message to Earth. To communicate with the aliens
you must first understand their emotional cues and earn their trust
with positive social interactions. Beware of obstacles and use defensive
tactics against dangerous life forms to avoid certain destruction.

A Collaborative Effort

A team of researchers and game designers led by Dr. Constance
Steinkuehler and
Dr. Richard Davidson
developed Crystals of Kaydor from the
ground up aimed at teaching children prosocial behaviors, including recognizing
othersí emotions. Teaming up with Games+Learning+Society, the
Center for Investigating Healthy Minds
and
Learning Games Network
, the group developed a new approach to
gauge childrenís ability to learn these behaviors while engaging in an
entertaining video game.

Davidson and Steinkuehler review an early version of Crystals of Kaydor with Buddhist
Monk
Matthieu Ricard.

ProSocial Training With Games

Crystals of Kaydor could illuminate whether mindfulness and kindness
can be taught through training. The Game is being tested in a series of studies
involving middle school-aged children. The research team gathers data on decisions
made in the game, but surveys and functional and structural MRI scans will reveal
whether neurological changes associated with empathy and other prosocial mental
states are at play.

The Art of Science

Rick Solis from
CIHM,
who is trained in Paul Ekmanís Facial Action
Coding System (FACS), worked closely with LGN artist Adam Weins to build empirically
valid facial animations. FACS is used by animators and researchers to label human
facial movements by their appearance on the face.